Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Controversy Over Supporting Iraq’s Tribes In Anbar

Anbar was where fighting first broke out in Iraq at the very
end of December 2013. The conflict split many of the province’s tribes with
some supporting the government, some revolting against the authorities but
opposing the Islamic State (IS), and some throwing in their lot with the
Islamists. Since then some of those tribes have re-aligned again as many had
bad relations with IS previously, and when it became the main fighting force in
Anbar they decided to fight them as well and went to Baghdad for support. New
Prime Minister Haider Abadi has come out for recruiting and training tribes in
the governorate and incorporating them into the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF).
The U.S. has been pushing this idea as well. Not all in Abadi’s coalition agree
however, and the implementation of the strategy has gone anything but smoothly.

Premier Abadi and the Americans have both been pushing the
formation of tribal fighting forces in Anbar. In the middle of October the
Interior Ministry okayed
the creation of a new 3,000 member Special Task Force Brigade for the province.
It would consist of three brigades of 1,000 fighters each drawn from local
tribes. The idea for the brigade came after meetings
between representatives from Abadi’s office and sheikhs in Jordan. The
Americans facilitated
these talks as they have been pushing Baghdad to reach out to tribes and others
to create Sunni allies to fight the insurgency. Both before and after this
announcement, sheikhs in Anbar had complained
that the central government was not supporting them, and were not giving them
weapons despite their fighting the insurgents and the worsening security
situation in the province. The problem is the Shiite parties are split over
this idea. Some do not trust the tribes, some of which were once with the
insurgents. They worry that if any weapons are given to them they could later be
used against the government. There are also those that oppose decentralization
of the security forces out to the provinces believing that it could lead to the
break up of the country. These are long time concerns and existed under the
former government of Nouri al-Maliki when the Awakening emerged in Anbar and
later the Americans formed the Sahwa.

Despite these worries, Abadi and the Americans are pushing
forward with this plan, but it is being criticized. First, the U.S. sent in
advisers to the Habaniya and Al-Assad bases in central Anbar. The provincial
council claimed
this occurred in the middle of October, but the Americans didn’t officially announce this
move until the start of November. At the same time, tribesmen from Ramadi,
Haditha, Ana, Rawa, and Qaim began
arriving at Al-Assad. 200 were to be trained every
two weeks. When all 3,000 have completed this process they are supposed to assist
with a major military push in Anbar. Sheikh Gaood from the Albu Nimr tribe,
which has recently experienced mass executions by the IS complained on November
18 that this new brigade was not getting the support it was supposed to. He
claimed that the unit received no ammunition and only 100 guns. A local
official told Al
Mada that the tribesmen had no weapons at all. If these charges are true
they could have been the result of several factors. As already stated, some
ruling parties are against the formation of this unit, and may be holding up
its completion. The ISF’s logistics are horrendous and they may not have been
able to come up with the equipment for the new unit in such as short amount of
time. Whatever the case the lack of adequate supplies for the new brigade
perpetuates the belief amongst many sheikhs that Baghdad is unwilling to stand
behind them.

The creation of Sunni allies is a must if Baghdad hopes to
turn around the security situation. Clearing out cities alone will not stop the
insurgency or turn people away from supporting it. Only with local allies
within the Sunni community can things be reversed. The creation of the Special
Task Force Brigade in Anbar is a step in the right direction, but all the
issues it is facing points to the problems in making this policy a reality.
Members of Abadi’s ruling coalition do not trust the tribes’ loyalty. The
institutional deficiencies within the ISF may delay the equipping of the unit.
The fighters are also only scheduled for two weeks of training, which cannot
provide them with much besides basic weapons training. That may mean the
Brigade is just for show and will remain an auxiliary force like the current
tribal forces are doing now in the province. Whatever the case, until there is
full political and military backing for this plan there is little hope that it
will be successful.

SOURCES

BBC, “Islamic state crisis; US
troops sent into Iraq’s Anbar,” 11/11/14

Al Mada, “Abadi in dialogue with the elders of Anbar:
competition between the two groups over recruiting 30 thousand fighters ..
stuck on political demands,” 10/30/14

- “Americans are training “special missions” brigade in
Anbar for the Liberation of cities,” 10/18/14

- “Americans are training volunteers from the clans but
Baghdad only gave 200 guns,” 11/18/14

National Iraqi News Agency, “Anbar provincial council: /100/
American military personnel arrived to the province to train the security
forces and the sons of the tribes,” 10/15/14

- “MoI approves forming a special force in Anbar under the
supervision of US,” 10/17/14

Iraq History Timeline

About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. I have written for the Jamestown Foundation, Tom Ricks’ Best Defense at Foreign Policy and the Daily Beast, and was responsible for a chapter in the book Volatile Landscape: Iraq And Its Insurgent Movements. My work has been published in Iraq via NRT, AK News, Al-Mada, Sotaliraq, All Iraq News, and Ur News all in Iraq. I was interviewed on BBC Radio 5, Radio Sputnik, CCTV and TRT World News TV, and have appeared in CNN, the Christian Science Monitor, The National, Columbia Journalism Review, Mother Jones, PBS’ Frontline, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Institute for the Study of War, Radio Free Iraq, Rudaw, and others. I have also been cited in Iraq From war To A New Authoritarianism by Toby Dodge, Imagining the Nation Nationalism, Sectarianism and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq by Harith al-Qarawee, ISIS Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassahn, The Rise of the Islamic State by Patrick Cocburn, and others. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com